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Carlsbad Catholics cheer news of new pope

By Stella Davissdavis@currentargus.com

Posted:
03/14/2013 10:59:07 AM MDT

As thousands of people stood in Saint Peter's Square in Rome, waiting in the evening rain to hear the announcement that the conclave of Cardinals from around the world had chosen a new pope, Carlsbad Catholics and non-Catholics alike were glued to their televisions during the noon hour.
Then the announcement came: Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires is the new leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics and will be known as Pope Francis I.

In the friary during the lunch hour, the Rev. Cyprian Uline of Carlsbad's St. Edward Catholic Church was watching the proceedings on television, waiting for the name of the new pope. Jubilation set in when the new pope was introduced to the world.

"I am very surprised and pleased that their choice was from Latin America," Uline said, admitting that he jumped for joy when the announcement was made. "I am pleased he took the name of Francis. At this point, I don't know much about him. I was very impressed with his opening speech, although it was in Italian. He seems to be a humble man and open to change. I think we can expect interesting things from him."

Uline said having a South American pope is going to be a "tremendous boost" to the Latin Catholic community around the world, as well as in Carlsbad.

"I am happy," said Ronda Gutierrez, of Loving, via Facebook. "I feel this will be a breath of fresh air and help heal and unite our nation and the world.

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Louis Camero, of Carlsbad and a native of Venezuela, said he too was home on his lunch break watching TV and waiting for the announcement.

"During my lunch hour, I was watching on TV and thought to myself that it would be great if a pope was elected from North or South America. There was a lot of talk about the cardinal from Brazil. I thought if we had any chance of having a pope from Latin America it would be from Brazil."

The 76-year-old pope is the first Jesuit, the first South American and the first non-European pope of the modern era.

"When Pope Francis was cardinal, he refused to live in the palace, he took the bus to work, did his own cooking and went to hospice to wash the feet of the sick," said Jim Grantner, of Carlsbad, via Facebook. "He bent over on the balcony and asked the people for their blessings. He should make a great pope!"

At the San Jose Church office, Brenda Garcia, office assistant, said she and her co-workers were not able to watch the announcement on TV.
"I'm so excited and happy that we got a new leader," Garcia said. "It was lunch time when they were preparing to make the announcement and I got to watch a little bit at home," she said. "I started listening on the radio and when I got back to work, I began tracking what was happening on my work computer. I think everyone is excited over the choice of our new pope."

At the St. Edward Catholic Church office, Julie Lopez said after the announcement: "We are very excited. It's wonderful. I think the most exciting thing is that the new pope is from Latin America."